Colorblind
by strangletheheart
Summary: AU BJu fic: It started out as a bet, but it blossomed into something more than that, something way more than that. Was it love?
1. Chapter 1

The colorful splatters on the walls were tripping him out. All the creepy figurines aligned on the bright red shelves and morbid artwork scattered all around Haley's room were freaking him out. And the dark and goth music that was being used as background noise was seriously giving Julian Baker shivers.

He sat there on the grey couch right next to his step-sister Haley, who was practically zoning in and out. The one thing that Julian and Haley had in common was not music. It wasn't movie preference, it wasn't their taste in food, not the people that they hung around and it wasn't their hair color. It was smoking pot.

They would smoke before school, after school, and whenever else they felt the need to relax or just do it for fun. You'd think with Julian's status as a football player and Haley's as the Art Club president that they would need to stop smoking in case of drug tests, but Julian knows a guy that warns him ahead of time when the tests are a' coming, and Julian warns Haley, and as annoying as it is, they stop smoking until the tests have come and past.

"So, are you gonna tell me?" Haley asked, staring at her paint-splattered wall, not bothering to look Julian in the face.

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Tell you what?" he asked, still staring at the wall.

"About the girl who's stressing you out," Haley replied, annoyed, "Everytime you wanna smoke just to 'relax', it's either about a big football game, or whatever girl you nailed. And since your game was yesterday and you won, I'm guessing it's the latter…"

Julian sighed. Haley knew him too well. His father and Haley's mother had been married since Julian and Haley were fourteen years old. In the past three years, despite how different they both were, Julian and Haley both seemed to really bond as brother and sister. Before, Haley always saw Julian as nothing but a stereotypical jock, who only cared about football, sex, and parties. Julian on the other hand always saw Haley as a weird art freak, who was into freaky shit and the color black. But since the fateful day that their parents merged and they found themselves living under the same big roof, Julian and Haley both discovered that there was so much more to each other than each other realized. They'd also realized that they made great smoking buddies.

"It's Serena," Julian replied, his tone indicating that he wasn't particularly proud of his latest conquest.

"Serena," Haley repeated, "as in, Serena van Der Woodson? As in, head cheerleader, Serena? As in, fake blonde-headed slut, Serena? As in 'I'll do anything for a quick fuck', Serena? As in…"

Julian cut Haley off mid-sentence. "Yes, _that_ Serena. Geeze." Julian didn't need to hear all of Serena's less than admirable qualities right now. He knew that hooking up with her at Nathan's victory party last night had been a mistake, but at the time he hadn't cared. He was too drunk to have cared.

Just for a moment Haley had hoped that she was wrong about the Serena she had in mind, she thought her brother had more class than to sleep with someone like her, but it was Julian we were talking about. He may have been a great guy, but when it came to girls, it seemed as though he just really didn't give a fuck about who he banged. Haley sank deeper into her comfy grey couch and leaned her head back. "Well, what about her? You think you've obtained an STD or something?"

"Haley," Julian rolled his eyes.

"Oh, not an STD? Oh my god, you knocked her up didn't you?" Haley asked. "Oh sweetie don't worry about it, odds are, you aren't even the father," Haley replied nonchalantly.

"Haley, really?" Julian asked annoyed, but could help but emit a small chuckle at his sister's humor.

Haley laughed. "Ugh, okay! Really, tell me," she replied.

Julian released a sigh. "Well, the thing is, I was supposed to be hooking her and Lucas up, not hooking up with her myself," Julian admitted. "What the hell is Lucas going to say when he finds out?"

Haley rolled her eyes. Typical football player drama. "What make you so sure that Lucas is even going to find out?" Haley asked, "It's not like you're going to tell anyone, right?"

Julian diverted his attention away from the trippy wall and looked at Haley. "Well of course _I'm_ not gonna say anything, but what about Serena? You said yourself, she doesn't exactly have the best reputation, and for goodness sakes, she hooked up with _me_ so you _know_ she's going to brag about it…"

Haley couldn't help but laugh at that comment.

"What?" Julian asked.

"Hah! I'm sorry, but the fact that anyone would brag about sleeping with you, hah!" Haley laughed.

Julian smiled and shook his head. "Well, I'm glad you find this amusing," Julian replied.

"I'm sorry," Haley replied, her laughter dying down, "but who freaking cares? You football players and cheerleaders sleep with each other and trade off all the freaking time, do you really think Lucas is going to give a shit that you slept with the school slut?" Haley asked.

Julian looked up at the ceiling. Haley was probably right. Girls didn't hold much interest for Lucas for too long, so maybe he was over his whole Serena fixation by now? Julian let out an annoyed groan.

"Ughh, you're probably right. Dammit Haley, why do you have to be so damn smart all the time?" Julian asked.

"Just one of my many quirks," she grinned cockily. "Besides, I don't know why you feel the need to sleep with all of these meaningless girls, Julie," Haley remarked, "All the girls you need in your life are me and Mary Jane," she replied with a smile while holding up and un-smoked joint.

Julian chucked. "Technically, me and Serena didn't sleep together, we just…did other stuff. But you're right, and I hate when you call me Julie," he replied.

Haley just laughed, "Whatever." She then looked down at her watch and realized that it was Saturday night and it was nearly 7pm.

"Oh! Damn, it's almost seven," Haley said out loud, rising from her position from the couch.

"Yeah, so?" Julian asked.

"Soo," Haley looked at Julian, grabbing his arm about to yank him up, "I have a friend coming over tonight and I don't want you in here when she shows up!" Haley replied.

"You…you, don't want me around?" Julian feigned hurt, "What, do I embarrass you? Do I make you miserable?" Julian faked a cry.

"Julian…," Haley just looked at him with her eyebrows narrowed, "Shut the hell up and get out of my bedroom," she replied, "Mom and Paul are out of town, and for once your little jocky friends aren't here causing a muck, so _I'm_ having a girls night," Haley told him matter-of-factly.

"Ohh, a girls night ey?" Julian mocked, "anyone I know?" he asked.

"Not that it's any of your business but _yes_," Haley replied, while she went around her room, picking up a few of her dirty pieces of clothing.

Julian was interested now. "Ohh really, who is it?" he asked.

He was such a guy sometimes. "It's Brooke," Haley responded.

Julian narrowed his eyebrows. Brooke? Who's Brooke? Brooke..Brooke…?

Haley noticed the confused look on his and replied, "Brooke Davis?"

"Brooke Davis…? I…don't think I know a Brooke Davis," Julian replied.

Haley made an annoyed face. "Uh hello, she's in our grade. Black hair, pale skin, mom runs a clothing store, really rich, been my best friend for years…?" Haley said, hoping to trigger her brother's memory.

But none of it did any good. Julian honestly had no idea who on earth she was talking about. Sure he knew that Haley hung out with the same crowd all the time, he'd even seen her hanging with her friends between classes, but he never had actually taken the time to know their names…

Julian shrugged. "Uh…has she been over here before?" he asked.

"No, she hasn't. I usually go over to her place, but since mom and dad are away and we have this big beautiful house to ourselves, I thought this time she'd come over here," she replied.

"Oh, cool," Julian said, still wondering who on earth Brooke was.

"Yeah, now," Haley grabbed two handful's of dirty clothes and rushed out her bedroom door, about to head downstairs and put them away in the laundry room, "go, do something. She'll be here any minute."

Julian nodded, but he was still annoyed that he didn't know who Brooke was. "Hey Haley?" Julian asked, before she was all the way downstairs, "Are you sure I know her?"

Haley rolled her eyes. "She's _only _in your art class," she replied in a tone that suggested that Julian was an idiot if he seriously had no idea who she was referring to, then walked off and towards her destination to the laundry room.

Julian just stood there at the top of the stairs and thought to himself.

Art class.

He sat at the front table in that class next to Jake. The table next to him consisted of Nathan and Tim. With his buddies in the front of the class next to him, he didn't really feel the need to look behind him and see who else was even in that class. Maybe if he did, he would know who this Brooke person was.

It was killing his brain wondering who she was.

_Oh well_, he though. _I guess I'll find out tonight._

**

Julian sat in the living room, watching some random reality show on MTV. Julian just sat there and groaned. MTV had really gone to shit, what ever happened to the good old days when there were more music videos as opposed to these gay shows? Julian didn't know why he had it there, or why he didn't change it to another channel that didn't upset him as much, but he just sat there and stared at the screen, not really paying any attention, still a little high from the blunt he'd shared with Haley less than thirty minutes ago.

Haley remained in the laundry room, washing clothes. With their parents gone, she sure as hell knew that clothes wouldn't wash themselves, and she was pretty sure that Julian didn't even know how to use the washing machine, so she took it upon herself to do it.

The ring of the doorbell broke Julian out of his blank stare of the TV.

Julian couldn't help but get a tad excited. What if it was this Brooke girl at the door? He was more than eager to see who the hell she was. But then a thought occurred to him. Why was he so eager? What if she was some butt-fugly weirdo who worshiped satan and did those freaky abstract paintings that Haley did?

Julian felt himself getting a bit disheartened.

The doorbell rang again.

"Dammit Julian, can you get that? It's probably Brooke and I'm kinda busy over here!" Haley yelled from the laundry room.

Julian rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure," he hollered back.

He slowly rose from the couch and put the TV on mute. Hearing some annoying dispute between Lauren Conrad and some other random blonde chick on the screen wasn't anything Julian felt like listening to.

He swiftly made his way to the door and opened it, unsure of what the girl behind it would look like. When he opened it, he literally had to take a deep breath.

She stood there in fish nets and combat boots. Short jean skirt & a black halter top that showed off creamy toned arms and the right amount of cleavage. Her long black hair covered both of her shoulders and her long sharp bangs almost hid a pair of amazing pools of hazel brilliance.

With a bag slung over one of her shoulders and a raised eyebrow, wondering why the school jock was eyeing her so meticulously, she cleared her throat and asked in her usual raspy tone, "Um, is Haley around?"

Julian wasn't sure how long he'd stood there just staring at the girl. He _did_ recognize her now, but he sure as hell never actually took the time to _look_ at her.

_How could I not_? he thought.

_How is it possible for one so_…Julian tried forming the right words in his head, _mysterious and alluring to be in my art class and have me never pay attention? _he asked himself.

"Uh…yeah," Julian said unmoving, eyes still glued to her.

Brooke gave him a weird look, wondering if he was going to let her in anytime soon.

Julian noticed the look she gave him and he quickly shook his head and repeated, "Uh, yeah! Yeah!" Julian opened the living room door wider and said, "Come on in."

Brooke grinned at him and made her way into the house, accidentally brushing her shoulder against Julian on the way in. "Oh, sorry," she replied, backing away from him a bit.

Julian couldn't help but notice how intoxicating her scent was as she passed by him. "No no, it's fine," he reassured her.

Julian shut the front door and Brooke slowly walked into the living room, cautious to sit down or wander anywhere else since the house was unfamiliar to her. She took a good look at the surroundings around her.

Big screen TV, surrounded by a wooden entertainment center aligned with white candles, fake but tasteful plants, and family photos. Three large beige sofa's that looked comfy as hell with a coffee table in front of the center couch that had a newspaper, a few remotes, and a half-empty soda can atop of it. Tile floor with a large floral rug, accompanied by Julian's black converse thrown lazily on it.

Julian made his way from the door over to the living room and walked near Brooke then nervously looked around him, unsure of what to say to the mysterious beauty.

"Nice house," Brooke commented, still looking around.

"Uh, thanks," Julian replied, "this is all Lydia though, quite the little interior decorator she is," Julian spoke of his step-mother.

Brooke gave a polite smile and nodded.

They were quite for a few seconds and Julian was straining his mind thinking of something witty to say. He always knew what to say, especially to girls, but Brooke Davis seemed like a girl that wouldn't go with his shit, like most girls would.

"So um…" Julian began, but was interrupted by Haley.

"Brooke!" Haley exclaimed, making her way into the living room.

_Damn the timing_! Julian thought.

Haley pulled Brooke into a girly hug and grabbed the bag Brooke had draped over her shoulder, then looked over at Julian. "How kind of you to invite Brooke to sit down, Julie," Haley commented.

_Did she really just call me Julie in front of Brooke?_

Julian gave Haley an annoyed grin and replied, "Well I was about to Haley-_BOB, but you interrupted me." Julian knew how much Haley hated being called by her middle name._

_Haley just sent him a death glare and put her arm around Brooke's waist. "Come on Brooke, let's go to my room, where assholes don't lurk about," she spoke, her eyes peering into Julian's as she said 'assholes'._

"_Um, okay," Brooke said, slightly amused by Haley & Julian's banter. _

_As Haley started to lead Brooke upstairs, Brooke looked behind her at Julian, surprised to see him staring back. She felt a shiver go down her back as she gazed into his dark brown eyes, then she looked away, almost blushing._

_He smiled to himself after Brooke looked away from him, swearing that he caught her cheeks turn pink as she looked away. Julian continued to watch as Haley and Brooke disappeared upstairs, unable to take his eyes off of Brooke. _

_This was going to be a looong night._

_**_


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm realllllly sorry this update isn't longer but thanks for all the great reviews! I flove you guys, seriously :)  
**

******

It had been an hour since Brooke and Haley disappeared into Haley's bedroom. Julian remained in his bedroom, laying on his bed with his headphones on.

Letting Ben Folds flow through his ears always made Julian feel better, and at this moment, it was distracting him from his thoughts about what Lucas would think if he found out about Serena, why Nathan insisted on using _his _house for some party this Friday, and mostly, the dark haired vixen in the next room.

Even with his ipod blaring music into his ears, he still couldn't tone out the burst of giggles that just came from the room next to him. He tried tuning out Haley's voice to get a better listen on Brooke's laugh, but with his headphones on, it was almost impossible.

Julian sighed and yanked the headphones from his ears, then sat up in his bed, wondering what Haley and Brooke were doing. He wasn't sure why he was so fascinated with the vamp, but he could help himself. Just one glance at her, and he was hooked. The way she'd confidentially stood tall in her dark boots, crossing her net covered legs, arms crossed, and perfectly shaped eyebrow rose. Damn it, this gal just scream sexy! And mystery. And just about every other words that's definition was that of intriguing.

He didn't know why this sort of attraction hadn't hit him earlier. Like when he'd see her randomly chatting with Haley by her locker, or maybe even when she sat and sketched away in art class. Where did she even sit in that class, how had he never paid her any attention before?

Another fit of giggles were emitted from Haley's room, and Julian's boredom and mind set on Brooke Davis made Julian rise from his bed and leave his room.

His first initial idea was to march straight into Haley's room and see what they were up to, but then he'd need an excuse.

_Do now, think later_, Julian chanted to himself.

In the midst of a fit of laughter, without knocking Julian opened Haley's door, and was greeted with a two pairs of eyes, surprised to see him there. Brooke sat on the floor next to the gray couch that Haley was sprawled on. She was flipping through an issue of Nylon Magazine, laughing at whatever it was she was looking at on the page, but her hazel eyes were glued to Julian now that he'd entered the room.

"Hey, I could have been naked, bitch!" Haley complained to Julian with furrowed eyebrows, "ever hear of knocking?"

Julian made a disgusted face at her first comment, "Eww, now _there's_ an awful image."

Haley rolled her eyes and threw a pillow from the couch at Julian's head., which he successfully dodged with his arm.

Haley sighed.

"So really Jules, can we help you with something or are you here to scare away my company?" she asked, motioning towards Brooke.

Brooke, who'd refocused her attention back to her magazine, now looked up at Julian, and gave a silent giggle at Haley's comment.

Julian couldn't help but admire the ruby red shade of her lips…

He folded his arms and replied, "Hales, my presence around any of your company would only make them all come crawling back here for more, not scare them away," Julian joked.

Haley raised her eyebrows indicating that she was more than annoyed with him wasting her girl time, making lame jokes that only _he_ seemed to think were amusing.

Unbeknown to Haley, Brooke was slightly amused by her brothers comments, although she wouldn't let it show.

Julian noticed the look on Haley's face and figured he'd better come up with an excuse for bothering her or he'd get kicked out and he'd spend his night, laying on his bed, wondering what Brooke was up to in the next room. Julian was really having a hard time wondering why he even cared so much, but he just couldn't help himself.

Then, the doorbell rang.

"Oh! That must be the pizza," Haley excitedly exclaimed. It was about time it got here! She had the munchies like crazy! She then rose up from the couch and made her way over to the open door that Julian stood at. She paused at Julian and poked him in the chest.

"I'm gonna go get that, _please _don't do anything embarrassing while I'm gone," Haley warned Julian, she then shot Brooke a sympathetic look for having to leave her alone with her tyrant of a brother, followed by her descending down stairs to answer the door.

Julian watched as she left and stood at the door for a second, looking back into the bedroom at Brooke, just admiring her features for a minute. He then cautiously took a few steps into bedroom, unsure of whether or not Brooke minded being around him alone, especially since the two were complete strangers.

Brooke, now bored pretending to be engrossed in her magazine, threw it to the side and propped on of her arms onto the couch and nervously glanced around the room, feeling an awkward silence settle in the room the second Haley had left. She didn't mind being stuck in alone in the bedroom with Julian Baker, because it was Julian Baker we were talking about. Popular, lady's man, intelligent, and yummy as hell! It was for those same reasons that Brooke was a bit uncomfortable being in the room alone with him. Popular ladies men were no good. She sure knew that already.

Julian was the first to break the silence. He slowly moved over to the couch and plopped onto it, trying to muster up some of his normal confident attitude that he always had around girls. But it occurred to Julian, that Brooke was different than most girls…

"So uh, you're in my art class, right?" he asked, looking down at Brooke.

"Uh yeah, have been all year," Brooke replied, looking at him while fiddling with her shoelaces. She then grabbed the sketchbook that was to the right of her and the black pen on the ground as well, and decided that sketching away was a good way to distract herself until Haley returned. Brooke wondered why he was attempting small talk with her. She didn't even think he knew who she was, and now here he was, sitting idly, obviously trying to start up a conversation with her. What was this guys deal?

"Right, right," Julian replied, thinking of something else to talk about. What was Brooke interested in anyways? He could mention the latest gossip in school, but she didn't seem interested in that sort of thing…Art, maybe? She seemed like the artsy type, for sure, but what the hell did he know about art?

Julian asked the first question to pop into his head, "Uh, soo…what uh, what do you and Haley have planned tonight?"

Brooke just shrugged her shoulders. "A little of this, a little of that," she replied, keeping her eyes focused on her sketch.

_A little of this, a little of that_…_what does that even mean_? Julian thought. Although he had to admit, he liked the mystery vibe she was radiating.

"That's…cool," he replied. Brooke just nodded.

"So…what do you guys have planned for tomorrow?" he asked.

Brooke let out an annoyed sigh. What the hell was up with all the questions?

Julian noticed the annoyance in her sigh.

"Sorry if I'm being annoying," Julian chuckled, "I'm just trying to figure you out," he replied honestly.

Brooke looked up for a moment and peered into his caramel colored eyes. For a moment, Julian thought he was finally getting somewhere with her, that she was actually touched or flattered by his words somehow, but his thoughts were shot to hell once Brooke started talking.

"Trying to figure me out? Is that really the best you can do?" Brooke asked in an amused, snarky tone.

_Best I can do? Uhm…what is she implying? _Julian asked himself.

"Um, excuse me?" Julian asked, with a slightly confused smile.

"This _attempt _you're making at small talk or flirting or whatever this is?" Brooke clarified.

Julian was shocked. Did she really think that he was just trying to get in her pants or something? He was genuinely interested in getting to know her, for reasons completely unknown to him, other than the obvious, which was that Brooke was entirely mystifying, in the best way possible.

"Uh, I really don't know what you mean…" Julian began, before getting cut off by Brooke.

"Oh come on, big football stud like yourself, trying to make nice with a girl like me?" Brooke raised her eyebrow and looked right at him, "_Please_, I know your type, you'd talk to anything with tits pretending to be interested in getting to know them, when all you're _really_ interested in is one thing," Brooke continued, then looked away proceeding to sketch away in her sketchbook.

"You may not know _me_," Brooke continued, her eyes focused on her sketch yet again, "but I know all about _you_," Brooke responded.

_Or at least guys like you…_, Brooke solemnly thought to herself.

No, she wouldn't think about _that_ tonight.

Julian was dumbfounded. No girl had ever rejected his advances, ever! And in this case, he wasn't even making advances! He just wanted to…get to know her? Yeah, for some reason, he felt the utter need to get to know this girl, but she sure wasn't going to make this easy.

A short silence etched the room as the sound of Nick Cave's 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' filled the room and the lyrics filled Julian's confused head.

_From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one. As she stared in my eyes and smiled. For her lips were the color of the roses. They grew down the river, all bloody and wild... _

Julian had never cared for Haley's creepy music, but this particular song was somehow in that moment…amazing to him. Whether it was because those particular lyrics were played after Julian had had his first sort-of conversation with Brooke or if it was because the song was somehow appealing in a way, or if it was because the lyrics reminded him of the beauty in front of him, he wasn't sure.

Brooke had listened to this song dozens of times, but the fact that it was playing while the school hottie was attempting to talk to her, well, Brooke wasn't sure why, but for some odd reason, it was making the song more special than she thought before. Brooke knew Julian's type, and quite frankly, she didn't feel like being surrounded by him and what he stood for. She knew what guys like Julian were like and what they wanted. Although a nagging voice in Brooke's head was screaming at her that Julian was some thing different, but she'd never admit that.

_When he knocked on my door and entered the room, my trembling subsided in his sure embrace. He would be my first man, and with a careful hand. He wiped the tears that ran down my face… _

Brooke's eyes were now entirely focused on her sketch but her mind was focused on the boy who sat no more than a few feet away from her.

Julian sat there fiddling with his hands and looking around the room. He wanted to say something, anything to break this silence and somehow make Brooke see that he wasn't any of those things that she described him to be. Well, he was to an extent some of those things that she listed, but that didn't mean there wasn't more to him than that. Because, there was. At least he thought so. At least he _hoped_ so.

Suddenly Haley appeared in the doorway and let out an annoyed sigh when she saw that Julian was still in her room. She loved her brother to death but this was the first weekend in weeks that him and his friends weren't gallivanting about the house causing a ruckus, she wasn't about to let Julian ruin it by harassing and making a move on her guest. How typical.

"Julian, I think you've done enough annoying for tonight," she said, pizza box in her hands.

Although Julian didn't want to leave, he did sort of want to escape the silence that now filled the room, so without any witty comebacks towards Haley, he simply sighed and rose from the couch and made his way towards the door.

As he did this, Brooke watched him from the corner of her eye.

_Maybe I was a bit harsh_, she thought to herself, _Nah…guys like Julian didn't need sympathy._

"What no protest or comeback?" Haley asked Julian on his way out.

"Nope," he simply said walking slowly our the door, seeming to be apathetic. This confused Haley. He never did anything she said without a fight.

Although the Brooke thing was still bugging him, Julian had something else on his mind right now…

As he began walking towards his bedroom, he looked back at Haley, making sure she didn't notice that he was lingering in the hall. He then swiftly turned back around and towards Haley, opened the pizza box and stole a slice from it.

"Hey!" Haley said in protest.

But it was no use, Julian had stolen his slice and ran back to his bedroom in a matter of seconds.

"Asshole," Haley muttered under her breath, slamming the door and returning to her spot on the couch.

"Sorry about leaving you alone with him," Haley stated as she opened the pizza box and the two girls grabbed a slice.

Brooke shoved a bite of pizza in her mouth and replied, "It's fine. I know how to handle myself."

Haley took a bite of pizza and laughed. "Oh, I know you do, Brooke," she stated.

Haley knew her best friend better than anyone, and if these was one thing that she knew about Brooke was that she knew how to stick up for herself. She's seen her do it many times.

"I hope you weren't too harsh on him though," Haley said.

Brooke swallowed her pizza and raised an eyebrow at Haley. "Why, whatever are you talking about?" Brooke asked, with innocence in her voice.

"Oh come on Brooke, I've heard some of the things you say to the assholes who hit on you, you're not exactly the kindest person I know when it comes to letting a guy down, you hit em where it hurts," Haley laughed.

Brooke innocently shrugged her shoulders.

"And I know my brother," Haley continued, "he totally made a move on you didn't he?"

"He may have, but it didn't get him very far," Brooke told her, taking a bite of pizza after she was done with her sentence.

Haley just laughed. "Well, too bad I missed seeing that."

Brooke giggled.

Julian may have not gotten very far with Brooke earlier, but the night was still young.

_**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Brooke's POV**

It's nearly midnight.

The amazing voice of Ane Brun was sifting through the room and into my ears.

Blair Waldorf, one of mine and Haley's best friends was now here. She'd arrived about an hour after I had gotten here. The three of us are pretty much odd shaped puzzle pieces, but together we perfectly fit with each other into one perfect puzzle. No matter what way you throw it, we're puzzles. Mysteries. People who stand out when we're not even trying to. From our interests, to our hair color, right down to the sarcasm, the three of us had lots in common.

The three of us had smoked a bowl and finished off the entire pizza. Now I find myself laying on Haley's bed, my arms sprawled above my head and my gaze directed at the ceiling.

Hales and Blair were in the corner of the room on the computer, checking out people's MySpaces and making fun of a variety of people they came across in our school, from the slutty cheerleaders to the so-called nerds. I didn't have a MySpace like Blair and Haley did. I find websites of the sort pointless.

'A place to make friends'? Oh please. How about you sit go on a city bus and strike up a random conversation with the person sitting next to you? There, you've made a friend. You don't need a fucking website filled with cyber-stalkers and fifty year old perves to make friends.

I sigh and close my eyes, shutting out my best friends laughs and giggles and just focus on the inner darkness of my eyes, thinking. For some reason, I had Julian Baker on my mind.

Maybe I was a bit harsh on the guy, hell, maybe I'm a bit harsh on most guys…but something about Julian was different. I actually felt sort of…bad for going off on him. Maybe it was because he was Haley's brother? Or not. Guh. Feeling remorse for my 'fuck you' attitude is pretty much an uncommon thing, so this feeling of guilt inside my tummy was pretty much annoying the crap out of me. Should I apologize? No! I'm Brooke Davis. Brooke FUCKING Davis. I make no apologies for who I am and how I act, why should I make an exception now, especially for a jock like Julian? All jocks are the same…

"Brooke!" Blair says in between giggles, "Are you sure you don't wanna check out Rodney Prescott's latest pictures? They're fucking ridiculous!"

Hmm, chess nerd Rodney Prescott. Would I really waste _my_ time looking at that guys 'I think I'm so0o0o sexy' pictures? Let's see, I think not.

I shake my head and sit up. "Nah, I think I'll pass. Actually, I'm kinda thirsty. I'm gonna go raid your fridge for a beverage, Hales," I tell Haley.

"Alright, bring me back a bottle of water, would ya? My throat is dry as hell," Haley says.

"Make that two," Blair adds.

I nod my head and rise from the comfy bed. "Sure thing."

Maybe I'll even step outside for a smoke and get some fresh air. I could really use that about now.

I make my way out of the bedroom and take a deep breath as I pass Julian's bedroom, wondering what he may be doing. Not that I give a damn or anything, I'm just…curious? But his door is closed and my throat was burning for something to subside the dryness, so I head on down the stairs and locate the kitchen.

It was a fairly large kitchen, obviously interior decorated by Hales mom. The woman obviously had good taste as far as I could tell. Without looking around too long, I go to the fridge and pull out three bottles of water, while standing there for a moment, feeling the cool feel of the fridge temperature, radiating out of the fridge and onto my skin. I close my eyes and bask in the coolness.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I hear, "Well well, if it isn't the sassy one," unexpectedly behind my back.

"Shit!" I say out loud, almost dropping the water bottles. I turn around and find Julian sitting on a stool by the kitchen's island, taking a bite out of an apple, relishing the fact that he'd just scared me shitless. I wonder how long he's been sitting there.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" I dumbly ask in a frightened rush, still reeling from the shock.

"Well, I _do_ live here," Julian responds, "and anyways, maybe _you_ should tell _me_ why I'm here, since you know all about me and everything," he says, quoting me from earlier, in a slightly amused tone.

I close my eyes for a second and feel that guilt again. It washed over me and for some reason, I actually had an apology at the tip of my tongue. AN APOLOGY!

I close the fridge and respond, "I _meant,_ what the hell are you doing sneaking up on a poor defenseless girl like myself," in a snarky tone. I've come to the conclusion that I am very fluent in speaking snark.

I walk over to the island and slowly make my way towards Julian, placing the bottles of water a few feet away from him, and I take a seat on the stool next to him.

Julian just stares at me and chuckles, showing off a grin that makes me want to stop acting like a bitch to this beautiful boy. Did I just call him a 'beautiful boy'? I must be loosing my god damn mind.

"Oh, you don't look so defenseless to _me_, and besides, I simply just came in here for an apple, there was no sneaking of the sort," he responds.

"Huh. Right…" I pause. He looks at me, and I look down to the cold water bottles.

"Look Julian, I…" I find myself struggling with myself whether or not I should apologize for earlier, "I'm…"

To say sorry or not…_that_ is the question.

"I'm sorry about that little outburst of mine earlier," I say pathetically and in a softer tone than I had been speaking. Damn it, what was I doing?

"I'm just, kinda in one of those 'fuck guy' type of moods," I tell him.

A devilish raise of Julian's eyebrow made me curious until he said, "Ha, well _actually_ I think if you were in one of those 'fuck guy' type of moods, you and me would be doing something _very_ different than just sitting here," he says, with the sweet sound of seduction seeping through his voice.

Was he implying that I wanted to fuck him? Hearing this innuendo nearly made my panties wet, but knowing it came from a guy who has probably been with half of the school made me feel less horny than this stud was already making me right now. Okay, did I just call him a stud?

Well by definition, a stud is a man that is good at sex, and by the looks of this guy, he is most definitely good at sex. I sure as hell wouldn't kick him outta my bed. But I wouldn't let Julian Baker know that he had such an effect on me, so I let his innuendo slide.

"Very funny," I say, in an expressionless tone. At least I hope it's expressionless and he can't hear the temptation in my voice. I reach for one of the bottles of water and take the top off of it and take a large gulp of it. I find myself to be thirstier than ever.

I can hear Julian's angelic laugh as I enjoy the magical fluid that is sliding down my throat.

"What's so funny, quarterback?" I ask as I place the bottle down on the counter and eye him curiously.

Julian stops laughing but a smile remains on his face. "You," he simply says.

"Me?" I cross my legs getting making myself more comfortable in my seat and raise my eyebrows at the boy.

**Julian's POV**

I watch her as she slowly and sexily crosses her legs and unconsciously rubs her black fishnets together. I wonder if she even realized how sexy is as she does this. Maybe she does. Maybe she's doing it intentionally just to turn me on. Maybe not. Whatever the reason, it's working. Turning me on, that is.

"Yeah," I say, looking at the beauty intently in the eyes.

"And _why_ is that, Baker boy?" she asks me as she puts her elbow down on the counter and places her chin in her hand. Baker boy. I just love all the nicknames she's given me just in the past five minute that we've been talking. Or bantering, really.

"I dunno," I tell her truthfully. "Just…I dunno." I shake my head as I say this. I really don't know what it is about her. Whether it's her apathetic attitude, the way she responds to everything with sarcasm, other than her sort of genuine apology she attempted earlier, or the way she insults me and doesn't apologize for doing it, again, not counting her apology from earlier. Whatever it was, it made me laugh for some reason.

She raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh," she says. Without another word, she doesn't push her question.

"Mhm." I mutter. A short silence falls upon us. Not an uncomfortable one or an awkward one either, just a…silence. I don't know why she's still sitting here, when I obviously annoy her. Or maybe I don't. Or maybe I do, but I still don't know why she's sitting here.

"Are one of those for me?" I ask, referring to the bottles of water.

She looks at me and responds, "Now, what do _you _think?" She obviously already knows that I know the answer to it. No, none of them are for me. Which in _my_ language means, yes, one of them _are_ for me.

She wants to know what I think? I grab _her_ bottle of water, remove the cap and before chugging some water down I say, "I think, _this one_'sfor me." Then I start chugging away until only half the bottle is full.

When I'm done, Brooke looks at me dumbfounded and gives me an expression that reads 'What. The. Hell?'

"What?" I shrug. "I gotta have something to wash down the apple."

Brooke puffs out an annoyed 'heh' while she rolls her hazel eyes and started to giggle as she looks at my face.

"What?" I ask. What's she laughing at? Did I do something funny? Is she spontaneously laughing at me now as I did to her earlier? Now I'm the one with the 'What. The. Hell?' face.

"You've got some lipstick on you buddy," she tells me amused, motioning to my face.

"Lipstick?" I ask as I instinctively reach up towards my mouth and try and find it. "Why would I have lipstick on my face?" I ask, mainly to myself, but I say it out loud giving Brooke the okay to answer my question.

"Gee I dunno, I mean it's not like you stole my bottle of water that probably had the imprint of my lipstick on the top of the bottle or anything," she says in a wondrous voice.

"Brooke Davis, are you implying that I _stole _something from you?" I ask, still using my hand to rub my lips, trying to decipher the location of the lipstick.

"I think I am," she replies, followed by a laugh. A genuine laugh. A laugh that sounds as though it's a laugh that is only laughed when in the company of good friends. A laugh that showed her perfect white teeth and small dimples. A laugh that made me slightly weak in the knees and waist deep in satisfaction. I, Julian Baker, made her, Brooke Davis, queen of sarcasm and all things cynical, _genuinely _laugh.

She sighs while looking at my face, obviously annoyed at how pathetic I must look with her ruby red lipstick somewhere unknown to me on my lips.

She leaps off her stool, which is only two feet away from mine, and says, "Here, let me help you with that." She sounds both genuine and annoyed at the same time, if that makes any sense. Only Brooke could make both being genuine and annoyed make sense.

She then wedges her small body in between my legs. IN BETWEEN MY LEGS. I shit you not. Everything in me wanted to instinctively place my hands on her hips, but a part of me decided against it. And it wasn't my lower region that decided against it. Hell, if my lower region had anything to say about it, I would probably be wedged between _her _legs right now, if you catch my drift.

My face was at eye level with her boobs. Perfect boobs, as far as I could tell. Perfect, PERFECT boobs, as far as I could tell. I couldn't tear my eyes away. Her hair tickled my chin, as it was long and she was leaning over me slightly, making her long goddess hair come into contact with my chin.

She gripped onto my chin with one of her hands and with the other hand, she licked her thumb, in one of the most fucking sexiest thumb lickings I'd ever seen, and brought it to my lips, gently rubbing the area where I assume I had lipstick on my lips.

At some point in all of this, I had placed my hands firmly on her hips for security and balance, otherwise I straight-up would have fallen outta my seat from the contact of her skin touching mine. She either didn't notice my hands there, or she didn't mind them being there.

She dropped her hand that was holding my chin but continued, with her other hand, rubbing the area on my lips slowly, almost teasing me, her mouth was slightly ajar as she did this. Her steady breathing pace was obviously quickened by the heaving of her breasts moving up and down with every breath she took. Her eyes were peering into mine as she continued stroking the spot on my lips, I stared back at her, unable to look away from her eyes. The intensity of her glare made me feel as though she were raping my eyes of any innocence that they had.

She had her free hand resting on my upper thigh gripping it tightly, almost as if she were inviting my erection to come out and play. Her face was so close to mine that I could feel her hot breath against my face, giving me shivers. Her intoxicating smell was oozing off her skin and going through my nostrils, making me dizzy.

Then, she stops the rubbing on my lips and drops her hand to my other thigh. She slowly leans into me, her eyes never leaving mine. Her red lips are so freaking close to mine that I just want to ravish them with my own lips.

I then feel the smooth skin of her cheek graze my stubble and the cinnamon scent of her shampoo hit my nose and it makes my awaiting boner rise a bit. Just for a second, I think she's going to kiss my cheek, or reach down to my neck and suck on it, or do something involving those bright red lips of hers. I nearly close my eyes from the anticipation as my erection just keeps rising and rising.

She then lifts her hands that were on my thighs and places them onto my shoulders as she continues inching her face closer to my neck.

But then I feel her hot breath once again, but it's not on my neck. It's next to my ear.

"I think I got it all," she slowly whispers into my ear. She then drops her hands from my shoulder, moves her head away from mine, and backs away out of my legs.

I sit there. Stunned. Aroused. Head-Spinning. And she turns around, grabs the three water bottles on the counter. She then turns around and looks at me and says, "You're welcome." And she winks.

She then mischievously grins and walks away without another word, swaying her perfect hips and heading up the stairs, leaving me yearning, alone, and with a boner.

I suddenly feel the need for a cold shower.

**


	4. Chapter 4

Julian had spent all day looking for Brooke. As soon as he'd got to school, he'd idly wandered the halls and looked all over the place just to see her face again, but he'd failed, and now he seriously couldn't wait to get to sixth period art class.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. After that night that he'd officially met her, she'd been occupying every inch of his mind. After having taken a cold shower after their encounter in the kitchen, Julian had stayed up watching TV in the living room in hopes that Brooke would come out of Haley's room, but no luck. The three girls had stayed in their room all night and the next morning by the time Julian had woken up, Brooke was already gone.

Now it was Monday and the bell rang from Julian's fifth period class and he was now at his locker, contemplating going off campus for lunch.

_If I go off campus, then I'll risk loosing the chance to see her at lunch_, Julian thought to himself. _But I'll see her in sixth period anyways soo… _

"Hey man!" he heard a voice say from behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Lucas.

_Damn!_

Julian had been trying to avoid him all day long. He was sure that Lucas had heard something about him and Serena by now and with Brooke on his mind, he really didn't want to hear grief about Serena from Lucas, so he decided to act casual.

"Oh, hey dude," he said, turning to Lucas.

"So, what'd you do this weekend?" Lucas asked him casually.

Julian shrugged. "Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that…" Julian internally laughed remembering how Brooke had muttered that same line to him.

Lucas nodded. "And a little of Serena?" he asked with his arms crossed.

_Fuck._

Julian released a heavy sigh and shut his locker, turning around to lean on it and face Lucas.

"So it's true then?" Lucas asked.

"I didn't…look, we didn't…" Julian stuttered, unsure of what exactly to say to Lucas.

"I'm sorry, I was drunk and…I didn't mean for it to happen," Julian apologized. It was the only thing he could think of.

Lucas just nodded. "Okay."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Lucas responded.

"I do things with a girl that you wanted to get with and it's…okay?" Julian asked.

Lucas shrugged. "Yeah, I sorta hooked up with Rachel that night anyways, so the Serena fixation is kinda over now," Lucas half-chuckled.

"Rachel? As in, my ex-girlfriend, Rachel?" Julian asked, annoyed.

"Yeah," Lucas replied, nonchalantly. "You don't have a problem with that do you? I mean I was just drunk and didn't mean for it to happen…" Lucas mimicked Julian's earlier words.

Sure it annoyed Julian that Lucas obviously hooked up with Rachel on purpose and was now using it was a way to get Julian riled up, but it didn't work. He didn't have feelings for Rachel anymore and he sure didn't care about what Lucas did, so he merely shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, "Haha, alright then, I assume we're all good then?"

Lucas stuck his hand out and pounded Julian's hand in a manly handshake-pound thingy. "We're good," Lucas replied. With Lucas, it was hard to tell when he was being sincere or not, so he wasn't really sure whether or not Lucas was pissed at him for what happened with him and Serena, but he decided not to care. He had more important things on his mind like…

Brooke.

There she was.

Leaned up against Blair's locker, Brooke had on her infamous combat boots and fish nets, a black skirt, and a dark green halter, with a sketchbook wedged between her arms. Her head was thrown back, laughing at something Chris Keller was talking to her about, her dimples were extra dimply and from the distance her eyes were even more mysterious and for some reason, Brooke was moving in slow motion.

Julian wanted nothing more than to be Chris Keller right now. Making Brooke openly laughing like that…

He then saw a hand waving in front of his face.

"Julian? Helllloooo? Dude, what the hell are you staring at?" Lucas asked, looking in the direction that Julian's eyes were staring.

"Nothing!" Julian said quickly.

Thankfully at that moment, Brooke, Blair, and Chris walked arm-in-arm-in-arm down to the lunch room before Lucas could see that Brooke was what he'd been staring at.

"Right, whatever," Lucas said, "Uh so look, me and the guys are going down to Tito's Pizza for lunch, you wanna join?"

All Julian wanted to do was watch Brooke some more, no matter how stalker-ish that sounded, but he wasn't sure if watching her with that Chris Keller guy was going to make him happy. Who did Chris Keller think he was, being arm in arm with both Blair AND Brooke? Was he dating one of them? Oh god, was he dating Brooke? No! Brooke had to be single! She HAD to be, right?!

Lucas sighed, annoyed. "Julian! Anyone home?" Lucas knocked on his head.

Julian shook his head, realizing that he'd been in his own little world again. "Oh, what? Yeah, sorry…I was uh…" Julian rubbed his temples.

"Dude, what the hell's going on with you?" Lucas asked.

"Uh, headache, I think," Julian lied.

"Whatever dude, so…Titio's? Yes or no?"Julian had no idea what he was talking about so he just said "Nah, I think I'm just gonna head to the nurse to see if she has something for headaches or something…" Julian lied again.

"Whatever man," Lucas began walking away, "Oh and hey! I need to copy your history homework, you got it with you?"

Julian shook his head. "Nah, um. Stop by my sixth period and I'll give it you then," he replied.

"Alright, see ya later," Lucas replied as he disappeared into the hallway.

When he was gone, Julian leaned against the locker and sighed.

Brooke Davis was making him crazy.

**

Brooke was sitting at her usual lunch table in the lunch room with the usual gang: Blair, Chris, Haley, and Chuck.

"So what's this I hear about you giving the quarterback a blow-job, Brooke?" Chris asked Brooke as he sat down next to Chuck with his tray.

Brooke looked up from her sketch and gave him an evil glare and asked, "Excuse me?""Blair over here tells me that you were MIA for nearly an hour at you girl's little slumber party this weekend," Chris replied.

"First of all, it wasn't even an hour, second of all, what does me being MIA have to do with giving a quarterback a blow-job?" Brooke replied, annoyed.

"Well from what I hear doll face, Julian Baker aka the quarterback was also present at this sleepover," Chuck replied.

"And?" Brooke asked.

Haley sighed. "Brooke, don't listen to these assholes," Haley said as she flicked some of her corn at a laughing Chris and Chuck, "Brooke was downstairs getting us some water and she went out for a smoke, that's it, no big deal. And FYI, my brother is not the fucking quarterback."

Blair's eyebrows rose. "I dunnnooooo, the next morning as soon as I woke up and went down to the kitchen to raid your fridge Hales, Julian asked me about Brooke," Blair said.

Brooke froze and felt herself get goosebumps.

_Julian asked about me?_ Brooke wondered.

"He did not," Haley said to Blair.

"He did so!" Blair protested.

"Oh really? And what did he ask?" Chris asked, intrigued.

"He was all, 'Oh…hey Blair,' in a 'I'm disappointed that you're not someone else' tone and then, after I go to the pantry to get some cereal, he nonchalantly sits at the stool and asks, 'So, do you know if Brooke is still here?' to which I reply, 'Nope, she had work so she left early this morning,'" Blair responded. "Oh man, you should have seen the pathetic sad look on his face when I said you were gone, Brooke."

Brooke rolled her eyes and started working on her sketch again, "Oh, I don't believe you."

"Yeah, me neither," Haley said, taking a bite out of her apple.

"Well I believe you B," Chris confidently told Blair.

"Well thank you Chris, at least someone believes me," Blair replied dramatically.

"Hmm, if you sleep with me, maybe I'll believe you too," Chuck responded to Blair.

"Um, I think not," Blair replied.

Brooke laughed at her friends banter and pretended to get lost in her sketch again, but was really just letting her mind wander.

Had Julian really asked about her? Why would Blair lie? Maybe he really did ask about her…but why?

Just then, Haley's cell phone rang.

"Who is it Hales? Your boyfriend, Nathan?" Chris asked sarcastically.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Nathan isn't my boyfriend, Keller."

"Oh, right right. He's just your fantasy," he replied.

Haley stuck the finger at Chris and checked her caller ID.

_Julian._

"It's just Julian," Haley responded.

"Ohh, _Brooke'_s boyfriend," Chris remarked to which Brooke smacked him. "Ouch!"

"Hey Julie, what's up?" Haley said into the phone.

Brooke silently giggled at Julian's nickname.

"Sorry, it's a habit. Uh-huh. Right now? Julian is there….Alright. Fine. I'll be there in a bit. Bye."

Haley shut her phone and started to get up from the table.

"Julian needs something, so I gotta jet. I'll see you bitches later," she said as she left the table.

Everyone at the table bid Haley goodbyes, but Brooke just sat there, wondering for some reason what Julian wanted. Then she started wondering why she cared so much.

**

Julian sat idly in his car, fiddling with his keys, waiting for Haley.

When he finally saw her approaching, he unlocked his doors and turned off his radio.

Haley hopped into the passengers seat and said, "Okay Julie, what is so important that you had to drag me out of my amazing lunch and into your ratty little car?"

"Hey! No one calls my baby, 'ratty'," Julian said, defending his car.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now, what did you want?"Julian looked away from Haley and started fiddling with his fingers, unsure of how Haley would react once he got it out.

"Julian? Cat got your tongue? What's wrong?" Haley asked.

Julian sighed. "Um, it's just…"

Haley looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Well…I….I was just, well, it sorta involves…um…"

"Sorta involves…who?" Haley asked, curiously.

"Well, I mean, not like I like them or anything but I was just wondering if…"

"Wondering if….?" Haley asked.

"Um….do you know if Chris Keller is single?" Julian asked. Not exactly the question he wanted to ask, but it would do for now.

"Chris Keller?" Haley asked, with raised eyebrows. "Julian, are you coming out?"

"What?! No!" Julian said quickly.

"Then why do you want to know if one of my best guy friends is single?" Haley asked.

Julian sighed. "Okay, I don't want to know if he's single…I was just wondering if he was….dating…"

"Dating…?" Haley asked.

"Brc," Julian coughed.

"Who?"

"Brrrruk," Julian coughed again.

"Broc?" Haley asked? "Like, Broc Dysen from English Lit class? Julian, Chris is many things, but he's not gay…" Haley began.

"Not Broc, BROOKE," Julian finally said loud and clear.

Haley's mouth went ajar.

"Brooke?" she asked.

Julian nodded.

"As in…my Brooke? As in, Brooke Davis? As in, the one who you didn't even know until Saturday, Brooke?""Yes, yes, yes, that Brooke," Julian responded.

Haley didn't know what to say. Blair hadn't been lying after all!

"And why do you want to know if my Brooke is single?" Haley asked.

Julian shrugged his shoulders. The look on his face as obvious enough, but she wanted to hear him say it, but it looked like he wasn't going to.

"Wow," Haley muttered to herself.

**

It was sixth period. FINALLY.

After a few 'Wow's and 'I can't let you treat Brooke the way you treat all those other girls' and 'I need time to process this', Haley had finally gotten out of Julian's car and left Julian with his thoughts.

Now, he was lingering by the Art Room door, knowing that Brooke would already be inside, more than likely sketching in the back. He entered the room and discovered that he was right.

There she was. Sitting. Sketching. Focused. And beautiful.

He wondered if he should go over and say something to her or not. It's not like they were friends, but it's not like they weren't either. He looked over at his empty seat next to Jake and saw him chatting it up with Nathan. He then looked back over towards Brooke, deciding it wouldn't hurt to say hello.

Brooke meticulously sketched the outline a boy onto her sketch book. In her mind, it was just an ordinary boy, nothing special about him, but her hands however knew, that she was sketching a certain non-quarter-back.

"Hey," she heard a voice say next to her.

Brooke looked up, quickly covering her sketch with her book bag and saw those chocolatey pair of eyes she'd been thinking about since lunch.

"Hi," she said softly.

Relieved that her greeting was a genuine one, he asked, "You uh, you mind if I sit down?"

Brooke pursed her lips and nodded no, then slowly pulled the seat next to her out for Julian to sit on.

Julian smirked and sat down.

"Well uh, I just wanted to thank you…for the other night," Julian said.

"Thank me?" Brooke asked.

"You know, for helping me with the lipstick and all," he reminded her.

"Oh, right, that. Well, uh, you're welcome, Julie," Brooke responded with a grin.

Julian's mouth went slightly ajar and then grinned, "That's not funny."

Brooke smirked, "You know it is."Julian just looked at her and chuckled.

**

Lucas entered the Art Room, in search of Julian and his History homework.

He spotted Jake and Nathan in the front of the room so he headed over to them and said, "Sup fellas? You guys seen Julian?"

Jake and Nathan, both realizing that they hadn't seen Julian yet, looked around the room and spotted him in the corner, chatting up none other than Brooke Davis.

Jake grinned and pointed over to him, "There he is. That sly fox," Jake said proudly.

Nathan agreed. "Mhmm, Brooke Davis is so fucking hot. You know, like in a sexy-goth sorta way…" he said while staring at her.

Lucas slowly turned around and saw Julian sitting very close to Brooke, laughing. Making her laugh. Anger and jealousy seethed through Lucas's eyes and a frown formed on his face.

What hell was Julian doing with Brooke? No. No. He couldn't have this, he couldn't have this at all.

Lucas snapped his neck back to Jake and Nathan who were both staring at Brooke, and he said rudely, "Hey! Stick your tongues back in your mouth, will ya?"

Before they could respond, Lucas stormed over to the back table and tried to contain his anger, turning it into kindness.

"Julian?" Brooke heard a voice say from the other side of him.

Brooke froze.

Oh god. Not _him_. She'd know _that_ voice from anywhere.

"Oh hey Luke, what's up?" Julian responded to Lucas.

Lucas slowly walked to the front of the table and said, "History paper?"

Julian shook his head, "Oh! Right, right." He shuffled through his bag and looked for his homework. As he did this, Brooke looked down into her lap, afraid to look up and see his face.

Lucas slowly and casually leaned over the desk until his letterman jacket was touching Brooke's bare arm. "Hey, Brooke," he said, almost as if he wanted to get a reaction out of flinched and drew her arm back, looking up into his icy blue eyes, ones that she used to find beautiful.

Julian pulled out his paper and handed it to Lucas. "There, now get your scrawny ass to class and learn something," he said to Lucas.

"You seem awfully eager to get rid of me, I hope I'm not interrupting anything back here," Lucas said, his eyes glaring into Brooke's.

"You're not, now get moving, Lucas. You're gonna be late," Julian replied, annoyed that he'd interrupted his time with Brooke, unaware of Lucas and Brooke's exchange.

"Will do," Lucas replied, his eyes never leaving Brooke's.

Just then, Chuck entered the room and stood next to Julian, waiting for him to move from his seat next to Brooke. When he saw Lucas staring at Brooke, he almost lost it. He wanted to punch the living shit out of him and spit on his worthless body.

"Excuse me, I believe you're in my seat," Chuck said to Julian, his eyes never leaving Lucas's.

Julian turned around to see Chuck standing there and he replied, "Oh! Sorry man." He then grabbed his bag and shot Brooke a smile, "I guess I'll talk to you later." Brooke nodded and Julian made his way back to his seat after saying "See ya later, dude," to Lucas.

Lucas diverted his attention away from Brooke and looked at Chuck standing there so he slowly made his way from the table and stood next to where Chuck was standing.

"Excuse me," Lucas said, his eyes glaring into Chuck's furious eyes. Chuck made sure to shove Lucas with his shoulder while he past by him.

Lucas just chuckled and walked out of the classroom, with a brilliant plan forming in his head.

**


	5. Chapter 5

"Brooke, we need to talk," Haley said as she walked into the doors of Clothes Over Bros.

"About?" Brooke asked curiously as she organized the clutches on the purse rack. She hated working at her mothers store almost as much as she hated her mother, but if she wanted 20 bucks an hour, she had to. The 20 dollars an hour was just about the only perk about working for her mom.

Haley walked over to where Brooke was and answered slowly, "Oooooh just…about a _guy_…"

Brooke kinked an eyebrow. A guy? "Ohh? And what guy are we talking about here? Your boy toy, Nathan?"

Haley's eyes widened and she quickly placed her hands on her hips. "Why does _everyone_ think I have a crush on him? Seriously? Just because he's…really _cute_ and the only one of Julian's friends that I can actually stand and…" Haley started going off.

Brooke tuned out the rest of Haley's ramblings at the mention of Julian's name. Julian and his grin had been in her mind nearly all day. She felt rather pathetic re-playing their short conversation from art class in her head over and over, but she was unable to hit the stop button. It was like it was on repeat or something. It wasn't even more than a minute that they had talked, but she still couldn't get it off of her mind. Why did Julian sit down and attempt a conversation with her? Did she really affect him that much when she did her little number on him the other night? Was he just being polite? What gives? Why the fuck is she even stressing about it?!

"…and _those_ my friend, are all the reasons that Nathan Scott and I will never, ever be together, ever!" Haley finished. Brooke hadn't heard any of what'd she'd just said but she nodded and pretended like she did anyways.

"Right. So what guy _are_ we talking about then?" Brooke asked, organizing one of the purses.

Haley then composed herself then thought back to her original purpose for being here and what it was she needed to tell Brooke.

Julian.

Haley was more than a little hesitant on whether or not she should tell Brooke about her encounter with her brother earlier.

_Brooke isn't exactly the type of girl that Julian was usually into, what were his intentions? Were they pure? Did he really like Brooke, or was she just another name he wanted to notch on his bong? Not that he notched names on his bong, it's just a figure of speech…_Haley rambled in her head.

"Oh, just…about…Julian…" she then said nonchalantly.

Brooke felt her face get hot and her heart started to beat a little faster. She found herself gripping tightly onto one of the purses.

"Julian?" Brooke asked, hoping her voice didn't creek as she spoke. "Wh-what about him?"

Haley took a breath and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh it's just…he just sorta, said a few things…about…." Haley looked away and fiddled with one of the purses.

Brooke was getting impatient. What about Julian? Why would anything about Julian involve her? Why was Haley talking about him? What was she going to tell her? Brooke bombarded her mind with a zillion questions.

"About?" Brooke asked, gritting her teeth in the process.

Haley bit her lip. "About…you," she declared as she finally got the courage to look Brooke in the eye.

_What the fuck?_

"Me? Wh-why was he talking about…me?" Brooke asked, as she moved away from the purse rack and moved onto one of the stores couches. Haley followed her.

"Uh, well…"

Brooke waited. Anxious. Nervous. _Excited?_

Haley licked her lips and fiddled with her hands. "Okay, you see the thing is…"

Brooke narrowed her eyebrows implying that she wanted Haley to spit it out already.

"My brother seems to be like totally into you and I think he might really like you and make another move on you sometime in the very near future," Haley said in a rush.

Brooke was shocked and a bit flattered. "Wait, what?" she asked, somewhat flabbergasted.

Haley took a breath and started to speak more slowly. "Well you know today at lunch, when he called me?"

Brooke nodded.

"Well, he ended up asking me if you were seeing anybody, and the look on his face was like…serious," Haley responded.

Brooke let that sink in and remained quiet.

"And I know that he's…sort of a major player and I know that you don't usually go for the athletic type guys after what happened with…" Haley paused and Brooke almost flinched. Haley thought it better not to say _his _name. "…but I don't know Brooke, Julian seemed kinda…_sincere_."

Haley's demeanor changed to that of curiosity. "So, what exactly were you two doing downstairs that had such an impact on him anyways?"

Brooke just looked at Haley and giggled.

**

"So, what's with you talking to Brooke Davis today?" Lucas, hiding his bitterness, asked Julian as they played a game of pool at Tric.

"What do you mean?" Julian asked as he positioned his stick on the table. _Is it some kind of a crime for me to talk to her or something? Geeze._

Lucas looked at him and took a swig of his beer on the bar next to him and replied, "I mean, what was a guy like _you_ doing talking to a bitch like _that_?" His throat almost stung calling her such a vulgar word, she wasn't a bitch. She was Brooke. _His_ Brooke. And she always would be…but only _he_ seemed to know that. No one else could now how much he was still in love with Brooke Davis. No one.

Something inside Julian snapped at hearing Brooke being called a 'bitch'. He looked up from shooting the ball and gave Lucas a dirty look. "She's _not_ a bitch, you don't even _know_ her…" he said with somewhat hostility in his voice.

Lucas bit back a growl_. _

_I know her better than you think asshole_, Lucas thought to himself.

"Oh, and _you _do?" he asked Julian. "When did you two become such best buddies?"

Julian paused and just glared at him. "We're not, she just…" Julian drifted off.

Lucas looked at him and gave him an expression that read 'just what?' He wanted an explanation as to why Julian and Brooke seemed so chummy and he wanted it _now._

"Look, she's just Haley's best friend and she's someone that I have to be nice to, that's all," Julian lied. Well, half-lied. She really was Haley's best friend, that much was the truth.

"Really? You're _forced_ to be nice to all of Hales' friends?" Lucas asked through squinted, disbelieving eyes.

Julian nodded and put his stick down. He then made his way over to a nearby stool and took a sip of his drink "Mhm, I do."

"But your sister can be a bitch to me and the guys?" Lucas remarked as he rounded the pool table and stood next where Julian was seated.

Julian sighed and faked a chuckle. "Dude, why does it even matter?"

Lucas looked down and realized how worked up he seemed to be getting. He gave Julian a tight smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Heh, you're right. I guess it doesn't." He then took a seat on the stool next to Julian and folded his arms on the bar.

Lucas's thoughts drifted back to a plan that had formed back in his mind earlier that day. Operation: Get Brooke Back.

The second that he'd seen Julian blatantly flirting with Brooke earlier today, something inside of him had lost it. _No_ guy had any right to make a move on Brooke, not when he was sure that she was still in love with _him_. And Julian sure as hell couldn't make a move on Brooke. Brooke was _his_. Not Julian's. Not anyone else's. _His._

Getting Brooke back shouldn't be that hard to do. Sure, he may have done something to…_upset _her in the past, but he didn't think it was something that needed to keep them apart _now_. It happened, it's over. They moved on, why couldn't they try again? They were in love once, that amazing summer. Hell, he was still in love with her. He'd _never _stopped loving her. _Nothing _in this world would cause him to stop loving the beautiful and amazing Brooke Penelope Davis. And he was sure that she felt the same, she just needed a push in the right direction, which brought him back to his original plan.

"But uh, I guess I do have to admit, she is kinda hot, ey?" Lucas remarked, waiting to slip his plan into motion.

Julian kinked his eyebrows. "Who, my sister? Dude, that's just sick."

Lucas chuckled. "No, no. Not her. _Brooke_."

_No shit she's hot, _Julian thought. "Yeah, she kinda is," he responded nonchalantly, shrugging it off, trying to make it appear that Brooke didn't affect him as much as he knew she did _. _

"Yeah, I wonder how a girl like her is in bed," Lucas said. _Not that I don't already know…_he thought.

"A girl like her?" Julian asked, almost annoyed at the comment.

Lucas nearly smiled hearing the edge in Julian's voice. It was obvious that Brooke had some sort of an effect on him. Perfect for his plan to fold out. "Yeah, you know. The mysterious, artsy type. I bet she's into all sorts of kinky shit," Lucas said rather crudely.

The conversation was making Julian feel a bit uneasy. He didn't want Lucas thinking about how Brooke is in bed. The thought alone nearly made him gag, but he responded in his usual _guy _conversation tone. "Heh, yeah."

Lucas almost sensed Julian's uneasiness. "You think _you_ could ever get with Brooke?" Lucas asked, biding his time, waiting for his plan to unfold.

Julian kinked an eyebrow. "I _am_ Julian Baker after all," Julian replied with a confident attitude. "Who _couldn't _I get with?"

Lucas chucked and shrugged his shoulders as he took another swig of his drink. "Nah, I don't think you could get with her," Lucas replied, trying to get Julian riled up.

"And why the hell not?" Julian asked, almost offended. _What? Am I not good enough for her?_

"Because dude, you two are total opposites. And she seems like too much of a bitch to give _you_ the time of day."

"Well, I think you're wrong. I could totally get with Brooke Davis if I wanted to," Julian replied sternly.

"You wanna put money on that?" Lucas asked with a smile.

How dare Lucas question his ability to get a girl! He got with Serena, didn't he? He could get with any woman he fucking pleased to. Julian shrugged. "No. No, this I'll do for fun."

Lucas grinned. _This is too easy. _Lucas raised his beer in the air.

"Alright tough guy, here's to you trying to fuck Brooke Davis. I'll give you until the end of the school year to do it. You're going to need all the time you can get since I know you're going to fail miserably."

Julian raised his beer to Lucas's and they clanked bottles. "Please. She'll be eating out of the palm of my hand in no time. You'll see, Scott."

"Whatever you say man," Lucas responded.

This was too good. _Julian will make Brooke fall for him, then I'll tell her the truth, that she's nothing more to Julian than a bet. Then I'll be her shoulder to cry on, and she'll realize how much she loves me, _Lucas thought happily to himself. _This was going to be a piece of fucking cake. Now all I have to do is wait. Brooke will be mine in no time. _

Julian interrupted Lucas from his thoughts. "So, what's in it for you?"

Lucas looked at him warily. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, hypothetically speaking, if for some freak chance that I don't get with Brooke, and _you_ win, what do you want?"

Lucas shook his head. "Just the satisfaction of being right," he replied with confidence. _And the satisfaction of having Brooke again. _

"Well, you're going down my brotha," Julian chuckled, taking a drink.

Lucas looked at him with disdain while Julian wasn't paying attention. _Oh, we'll see who's going down..._

**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews guys, you make me smile : ) Sorry for the long wait, I have no excuses other than laziness and lack of ideas. That and I started school and again and I need to focus of my school work to keep my grades up, but hopefully I will be able to start updating my fics more often.**

**Also, Lucas is totally the villain of the story, so feel free to hate him as much as you please and feel no sympathy for him. But lucky for you guys, he's not in this chapter, sorry this chapter is short, but it's better than nothing I suppose. I promise the next one will be longer! Enjoy!**

******

**-Julian's POV-**

Why did I make that bet? Why did I make that bet?

I'm standing in the kitchen, slowly banging my head against the cabinet door, re-playing my conversation with Lucas over and over and over again. WHY DID I MAKE THAT FUCKING BET?

Making a deal with Lucas was like making a deal with the devil, and now I'm feeling regret. I'm feeling remorse. I'm feeling stupid. I blame the drink I drank. Then all the ones that followed that drink.

Maybe it won't be that bad. I mean, I do genuinely like Brooke, right? All I have to do is hook up with her and that's that. Case closed. I win the bet _and_ get the girl. And Lucas gets to live with the fact that he lost. I know how he is when he looses something. He's the worst of the worst. The absolute sorest loser possible.

Getting the satisfaction of making him feel that way, well, maybe that won't be so bad. Not bad at all.

Now, all I have to do is get through to Brooke. Make her realize that I'm a good guy and that she should take a chance with me, or at least get to know me. Haley could convince her, right? And, I am a good guy, right? Okay, maybe this bet was a stupid thing, but, it's not like anyone other than Luke is gonna find out about it, so it really doesn't even matter…

"Julian? Is there any particular reason that you're standing there, banging your head?" I hear Haley ask behind me. I wonder how long she's been standing there.

I sigh.

Perfect timing, Hales.

"I'm just seeing if I keep doing this long enough, that maybe I'll bruise," I dryly joke.

"Well the banging sound is kinda giving me a headache, so will you lay off? If you need a bruise, I won't mind giving you one," Haley says. And I'm totally sure that she means it too.

I just smirk and comply with her wishes as I close the cabinet and go to seat myself at the counter. I have the worst fucking hangover and it's only been a few hours since I drank. Pathetic much?

Haley joined me at the counter and sighed as she zoned out, deep in thought.

"It's nearly one in the morning, what are you still doing up?" I ask.

She shrugged her shoulders then she looked at me as though she were going to ask a question. She didn't.

"Something the matter, Haley-Bob?" I ask.

She sighs again.

"Well actually…the thing is," she began. "I sorta thought about what we talked about earlier, about, ya know, Brooke."

Brooke.

At the mention of her name, I instantly perked up and became very interested. What about Brooke? Was she going to help me get with her? Did Brooke say something about me?

"Yeah?!" I reply, all too eagerly.

"Yeah…" Haley says, I hear a tone in her voice, one that sounds as though she's going to let me in on some bad news.

Unfortunatly, my instincts were right.

"I don't think I can help you with her, Julian," she says as she fiddles with the ring on her middle finger.

My shoulders slump. I release a heavy sigh. Of course Haley wouldn't help me.

"You don't think you can help me," I repeat.

"No, I really don't. Look…I don't know, what your reasoning is, for choosing _my_ best friend to be your next target, but I just don't think this is going to work out. I mean, come on, Julian. I know you. I know how you are with girls and relationships, and…quite frankly I'll be damned if I'm going to help you hurt Brooke. She's been through too much."

"Hales, I have _no _intention of hurting her," I say, almost sternly. Those words taste sour on my tongue. No intention of hurting her…no intention of hurting her…if that were the case, I probably wouldn't have made that bet. I don't know what it is that makes me so hell bent on getting with Brooke Davis, but it's a strong feeling that I refuse to ignore. A feeling that I can't ignore. A feeling I won't ignore.

Haley made an annoyed face and looked directly at me, as though she were about to scold me. "Why do you want me to fix you up with her anyways? What do you even _know_ about her?!"

"That's kinda the point," I say.

"What's kinda the point?" she asks me, confused.

"I wanna _get _to know her," I reply.

"But _why_?"

I love my sister dearly, and I obviously love how defensive she seems to be of Brooke, but I really couldn't just give Haley a reason of WHY I wanted to get to know Brooke, _I_ didn't even know. I just knew that I had to. I have to. Bet or no bet, I _need_ to get to know Brooke.

I pause for what seems like an eternity to me.

"Cuz she's hot," I lie dryly. Partly-lie, anyways. I'll blame my lame answer on the drinks in the morning.

Whatever the reason was that I wanted to get with Brooke was, I'm sure Hales still wouldn't help me, so it didn't matter what she thought my reasoning was.

Haley saw through me anyways. Another reason why I love her.

She looked at me with knowing eyes and said, "Julian."

I sighed.

"Look Haley, I know you want some definite answer or reasoning as to why I'm so curious about Brooke, but the truth is, there is none, okay? It's just like, this, I dunno. A gravitational pull or attraction or something. I can't help how I feel, Haley."

Haley looked at me, her face pensive. She replied to me in a soft voice, "And how is it that you _feel_?"

"Ever hear of love at first sight?" I ask, knowing that I sound like a pathetic hopeless romantic like some tool from an 80s movie.

"Julian, you've seen Brooke dozens of times and you haven't so much as even batted an eyelash at her before. I would hardly call whatever you feel, 'love at first sight'."

Haley doesn't bullshit around. I lick my lips and look away. She's right. How many times had I seen Brooke Davis around? Dozens probably. Maybe even hundreds. And I was just now taking notice of her? This is crazy. Brooke, was making me crazy.

**-End of Julian's POV-**

******

"Alright class!" mused Mrs. Brown, the art teacher. "Now pay attention very closely and repeat after me: December 20th, 2009."

The apathetic and bored 6th period art class looked around a few students repeated weakly, "December 20th, 2009."

The enthusiastic teacher slouched her shoulders and made a face. "That was pathetic! Enthusiasm people, enthusiasm! Repeat it again, and this time, I want _everyone_ to repeat it! Now again…"

Mrs. Brown motioned her hands to the class signifying for them to repeat.

A large portion of the class rolled their eyes and in a more louder tone of voice repeated, "December 20th, 2009!"

"Much better!" Mrs. Brown exclaimed.

Nathan's hand shot up. "Yo, Mrs. Brown?"

"Yes, Mr. Scott?" Mrs. Brown asked.

"What's the deal with December 20th?" he asked curiously.

Mrs. Brown fiddled with her glasses and smiled. "I'm glad you asked, Mr. Scott!"

"December 20th, 2009 is the due date. To what? I'll tell ya what..." She gazed into the eyes of her students and made a dramatic pause.

The class looked up at her, wondering what the eccentric teacher had up her sleeve.

"To your….Art projects!" she mused.

The majority of the class groaned in unison at the words 'art project'.

"Starting today, each of you will be split into pairs of two. Now, your objection is to make a portrait of each other, using paint, sketches, objects, whatever you like! It just has to represent your partner in an artistic and positive manner! And it'll be due…"

"December 20th, 2009," some of the students dryly repeated.

"Very good! Now…" Mrs. Brown picked up the clipboard on her desk, "Here are your partners…"

"Wait!" Jake exclaimed, "We can't _choose _our own partners?"

"Oh no! Where's the fun in that? It's much more exciting if you get a partner who you wouldn't normally choose, it's more…dangerous, exciting, and FUN!" Mrs. Brown replied. Obviously, the class and Mrs. Brown had different definitions of the word 'fun'.

"Now! Here are your partners! Nathan, you're with Izzy. James, with Liz. Chuck, with Jake…" Mrs. Brown went down the list and called out everyone's names. "Latoya, with Craig. Julian, with Brooke…"

Brooke looked up from her sketchbook as soon as she'd heard her name being mentioned. Julian instantly sat a little straighter in his seat and his eyes momentarily widened.

_Brooke? Did she just say Brooke?! Were the gods playing some sort of joke on him? This was too good to be true!_

Julian slowly turned his head and looked behind him to the back of the classroom where Brooke's table was. He was greeted by her eyes piercing at him, but not in a bad way. It was almost a _good_ eye pierce. Julian quickly looked away at the immensity of it.

Brooke quickly looked down and continued to doodle in her sketch book, a rush of goosebumps shot down her spine, her face felt hot. All she could hear was her heartbeat drumming in her ears.

"Okay, that's everyone! Now, go and sit with your partners and discuss! I except amazing things from you all," Mrs. Brown told the class.

A few seconds later, the whole class was shifting around in their seats and moving around the classroom to find their partners. Julian gathered his things very slowly, trying to think of something clever or witty to say to Brooke when he got to her., but his efforts came up short and he ended up with nothing.

"Well well," Chuck began to say to Brooke, "Isn't this your lucky day?"

Brooke made a face and raised an eyebrow. "What are you babbling about?"

"The _quarterback_?" Chuck raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you're not internally doing back flips that you got stuck with Hale's brother for this assignment," Chuck replied.

"I don't _do_ backflips," Brooke retorted.

"Why not? I'm sure you're limber enough…as I'm sure Julian will find out soon enough," Chuck finished.

"Oh, shut up," Brooke said annoyed, playfully pushing Chuck away with her hand.

Just then, Julian was soon standing just a few feet away from Brooke's desk. Chuck saw him and slowly gathered his things.

"Just saying," Chuck chuckled as he rose from the desk.

"Good luck with this one, you're gonna need it," he said to Julian as he patted him on the back and made his way over to his partner, leaving Brooke and Julian alone together.

"What was that about?" Julian asked Brooke, amused.

Brooke sighed. "I've learned that ignoring Chuck is the best thing you can do."

Julian smiled and silently chuckled.

A silence overtook them for a moment, as both were unsure as what to say to one another, but Brooke broke the silence. "You just gonna stand there or do you plan on sitting down?" Brooke asked light-heartedly.

Julian smirked and placed his backpack on the floor, next to the chair. "Ah, I'll sit."

******

Thirty minutes later, after slightly awkward, slightly comfortable conversation and having discussing some options for their art project, the class was five minutes away from ending.

"So, what are your plans this weekend?" Julian asked, closing his notebook after writing down the requirements for the art project from the board.

Brooke shrugged. "Dunno. Probably stay home, read some, maybe even watch that Halloween movie marathon that they're showing."

"Uh-oh, reading and scary movies?" he said. "Now you're talking crazy."

Brooke pursed her lips and shifted in her seat to face him entirely. "Ooh, alright Mr. Excitement, what are _your_ plans this weekend?"

Julian cleared his throat. "Well, I have an Algebra paper that needs to get done, and Nathan sort of talked me into throwing a party at my house this weekend so…"

"A math paper AND a big party?" Brooke mocked. "Don't hurt yourself now."

Julian laughed. "I'll try not to." Julian was internally grinning from ear to ear. Him and Brooke were actually making a conversation. A conversation! Brooke didn't even seem annoyed by him! If she was, she sure didn't let on.

Brooke shoved her sketchbook into her bag and pulled out her car keys, waiting for the bell to ring so she could blow off seventh and eighth period so she could head over to the arts and crafts store before they closed early.

"You want to come?" Julian asked.

"Come, where?" Brooke asked.

"To the party," Julian replied.

She sighed. "Hmm, let's see. Watch Michael Myers stab a dozen people, leaving them in a puddle of gruesome dripping blood, _OR_ go to a high school party where there'll be a bunch of idiots and ho bag's shoving their tits in the face of guy that's drunk enough to fuck them in the corner of the living room, all the while some god awful rap song will play over and over in the background so loudly it'll make me feel like pounding my head against the wall…?" Brooke pondered out loud.

Julian laughed. "So I'll see you there at eight?"

Brooke smirked. "Sorry partner, but I think I'm gonna stick with Michael."

"Oh come on…you could at least make an appearance. Make the night more bearable for me."

"I don't think so," Brooke replied amused.

"You're breaking my heart right now," Julian replied, placing his hand dramatically onto his chest.

"You sound perfectly fine to me," Brooke chuckled.

"It's all a façade, I'm really a mess under my obvious cool exterior," Julian replied.

Brooke sighed, almost defeated. "I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask," Julian grinned.

Brooke couldn't help but grin back.

******

**Sorry I didn't give you much of a cliffhanger, but I promise that the next chapter will be more entertaining and definitely longer! Hope you enjoyed : )**


	7. Chapter 7

She stood and gazed at the large house in front of her. She shivered in the cold night air and took a breath as she stepped forward and walked towards the house, her strides slow. Brooke only came for one reason tonight: to keep Haley company. Never mind that she was walking towards Julian and Haley's house at the moment, the night of Julian's party, that _he_ invited her to…that had nothing to do with her reasoning at all! Her reasons for showing up were simply out of best friend duty to Haley. Julian wasn't even anywhere on her mind, except for the times where she was convincing herself that he _wasn't _on her mind. Damn him for invading her thoughts at all.

She made her way through the driveway, looking at all the moving figures through the curtains of the windows. She could hear the music blaring, she could hear the guests chattering, and she could hear people barfing in the bushes. Brooke rolled her eyes and walked through the large front door after wiping down her boots on the welcome mat. The aroma of beer and marijuana hit her nose full force and she instantly made a disgusted face as she entered the house. Marijuana should _not_ be mixed with beer. It smelled beautiful all on its own.

She looked around through the crowds of people and scanned around for a familiar face. Haley had also invited Chuck and Blair over to this little shindig, just so she wouldn't be alone. She hadn't invited Chris for the mere reason that he had some gig with his Indie band in the next town over. If Blair and Chuck were no shows, at least Brooke and Haley would have each other. Brooke felt uncomfortable being shoved into various members of the student body that she despised, she felt like a fish out of water, all she wanted to do was find her best friend.

Brooke whipped out her cell phone and texted Haley as quickly as she could. "Where the hell R U?"

Haley would have much rather gone to cheer Chris and his band on as opposed to staying at the house around half the student body that she loathed and despised, but Julian had begged her to stay at the house that night so she would help keep the party in hand and make sure nothing got broken. Like the amazing sister that she knew she was, she reluctantly agreed. Now here she stood, hastily holding onto a vase of her mother's that Jake and Nathan had nearly knocked over with their football. "I don't care how shit-faced you boys are, no ball in the house!" she yelled angrily, bending over to set the vase in a nearby cabinet. She sighed exaughsted. The party had only begun two hours ago and already she was worn out, unable to take much more of her brothers idiotic friends.

Just then, she saw Julian's shoes in her peripheral vision. She stood up and walked towards him. "Julian!" she exclaimed. "Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to keep your dumb-ass friend's paws off of all of my mother's break-able things for nearly an hour!"

Julian grinned and took a sip of his drink. "Aw, thanks Hales," he replied, giving her a side-hug. "I knew you'd help keep the party in line." Haley shoved him off. "This stupid party shouldn't be _my_ responsibility, Jules," she argued, walking away. "Arg, I should have gone to Chris's concert instead. Oh by the way, if you see Brooke, please tell her I'm looking for her." She turned around and her eyes widened. "Nathan, get your hands off of that painting!" she exclaimed walking back into the mess of a party.

Julian's heart froze at the mention of Brooke. She _was _coming! He instantaneously broke out into a smirk. For the past few days, ever since they got assigned to work on their art project together, Julian had sat at Brooke's art table and they talked and laughed and acted like what he hoped friends acted like. And every day he would ask her to come to tonight's party, to which she would respond, "Eh, I'll think about it."

Now the night was here and she _was_ coming! He looked all around him, hoping to spot her.

Accidentally bumping into a topless girl, grinding with a boy from the basket-ball team, Brooke quickly made a mad dash from the living room into the kitchen. Thankfully, there was no one there. She helped herself to a bottle of water from the fridge and sat in the center island, waiting for a text from Haley.

She tilted her head back and sighed in contemplation. Was Haley the _real _reason she had come? Or on some twisted level, had she hoped to see Julian as well? To see his mischievous grin and his pathetically annoying charming ways? She squeezed her eyes shut and cursed herself for thinking of him again. How was it that her entire world seemed to have been completely shifted in just a matter of days? How was it that a jock that she never gave two shits about before, now consumed a large portion of her every waking thought? She just didn't understand what was wrong with her! Sitting with him in Art had somehow become a time of day that she most looked forward to now…

She heard the kitchen door swing from behind her. "Jake! Hands off the china, ey?" a voice yelled into the party. The door shut. "Brooke!" the voice exclaimed.

Brooke quickly whirled around in her seat to see Julian standing there with a red cup in one hand, and a surprised look on his face. "You came!" he exclaimed. He'd spent forever searching the party for her it seemed, fearful that she had decided not to show up. It was a relief to have finally found her. His heart started to speed up.

"I came," she replied, unenthusiastically. "For _Haley_," she replied, making it clear that she was only here for Haley, not him. Still, being in his presence caused her to grin a little.

"Right." He inched over to where she was and took a seat next to her. "So, how do ya like the party?" he asked.

"It's bitchin," she replied.

"Is that why you're sitting in here all by yourself?" he asked amused.

"I'm waiting for Haley, and I just got here, thank you very much. Give me a swig of whatever you're drinking and I'm sure this party will be much more appealing." She grabbed Julian's red cup and downed the liquid into her throat.

Julian laughed as he watched her.

Brooke made a face as soon as all the liquid was missing from the cup, and making its way toward her stomach. "This is…_Dr. Pepper_. Plain, no alcohol-induced, Dr. Pepper," she stated, surprised.

"That it is," Julian said.

"What? No getting drunk tonight, Baker?" she asked.

"Nah, someone has to be the responsible one here tonight. Besides, this party idea was Nathan's, not mine."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Sure, blame your buddies." She cleared her throat. "So, where's Haley?"

Julian knew exactly where she was. Last he's seen her she was in the dining room making sure Nathan didn't brake Lydia's vase from India. Nathan sure had a thing with breakable items when he was hammered and Haley was very adamant on keeping every glass piece of art fully intact when the night was over. But if he were to tell Brooke where Haley was, then he'd probably lose spending time with her…

Julian scavenged his mind for a lie to tell Brooke to keep her with him here. "Uh, you know…I think she mentioned something about a concert?" He hoped he sounded convincing.

"Concert? What concert? Chris's concert?" Brooke asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Uh, he's the guy with the spiky hair? Uh yeah, that guy I think. She'll probably be back late." Julian looked around nervously.

Brooke sighed in utter annoyance in disbelief. She'd come all the way to this party just for Haley to bail on her? "Ugh, great. _Just_ great. Well, looks like my presence here isn't needed after-all," she replied as she slowly got up from her seat.

"Wait!" Julian exclaimed. "Where are you going?" he asked, as he saw Brooke slowly headed towards the kitchen door.

"Home. I have better things to do than sit around in a kitchen," Brooke said.

"Well…wait! You uh….you want to smoke with me first?" he asked, frantic to find a way to make Brooke stay. He knew she couldn't say no to that offer.

_Smoke? _

Brooke paused. "Smoke?" she asked, her interest suddenly peaked. She shook her head. Smoking with Julian wasn't a good idea, she always got a little…_horny_ when she smoked. Mix that with Julian's presence, and it could end in disaster. "Nah, I don't think that's such a good idea…"

Julian quickly stood in front of her, blocking her from the door., her body slightly colliding with his. "Oh come ooooon, it's not gonna kill ya," he urged.

Brooke was too consumed with the feel of his body heat pressed against hers to think coherently. The smell of his black t-shirt was clogging up her mind. "Julian…" she tried to protest.

"And I won't take no for an answer," he continued, pulling a joint from his pocket, twirling it in his fingers masterfully in front of her face.

Brooke sighed. This wasn't a good idea…but what more reason did she have to say no? "Well, I guess I could stay a _little _longer," she replied, defeated.

Julian grinned.

A little longer turned into _a lot _longer.

"So about this art project…when do you want to continue working on it?" Julian asked staring straight ahead at the brick wall of the house, all sobriety gone.

Julian and Brooke sat side by side on a swinging lawn bench on the back porch, completely high. Brooke hesitated smoking with him at first, she knew that effect that weed had on her, especially at night time, but she took the chance anyways. It was a Friday night, she was stressed, and there was nothing else better to do. If she happen to make an uncharacteristic move on Haley's brother, Haley's very…_hot_ brother, then so be it.

"Whenever," she replied, also staring straight ahead.

They could hear the noise of the party and the loud music through the wall, it made them feel as though they were less alone together, a feeling that somewhat comforted Brooke. She wasn't sure what may or may not happen. Not like she had any expectations or anything.

"Cool," he replied, too gone to think of a more witty response.

"Cool," she replied back, with the same excuse as him.

Their minds began to wander off into unknown territory. They spent the next hour looking off into different directions and asking each other the most random questions and making the most mundane comments and observations of their surroundings. Their topics ranged from, "Do you ever wonder what happens when we die?" to "What if I were secretly an alien?" to "I swear to God I just saw a ghost!" to "I feel the earth moving beneath my feet."

A few moments later, they busted into a fit of giggles at Julian's last comment which was, "I think the principals tits are made out of vanilla pudding." It was a thought that had came to Julian randomly, and he felt the need to voice it. Brooke gripped his knee for balance and he leaned into her shoulder, still laughing.

They didn't know what they found so amusing, but marijuana had that effect on you sometimes.

"_Vanilla_ pudding?" she asked through a laugh, "Why not…strawberry pudding or chocolate pudding?"

"Do they even _make _strawberry pudding?" Julian asked.

"I don't know," Brooke said as she burst into another fit of giggles. It was evident that the chill mood from earlier was long gone. "And why, why _pudding_? Why not, jell-o?"

"Jell-o is too jiggly, honey," he remarked, "The principal has more dignified, stiff-er tits than jell-o would provide, which is why I'm convinced that they're made from pudding."

"_Vanilla_, pudding," Brooke corrected.

"Now you're speaking my language!" he said as he gave her an overly excited high-five. With just as much jubilance as him, she high-fived him back.

A few moments later after some more light-hearted conversation, the laughter died down some.

"So ah, Haley's been telling me all sorts of ridiculous things lately," Brooke laughed.

"She's always saying ridiculous things," he replied, amused.

"Yeah well, what she told me was _super_ ridiculous," Brooke replied.

"Yeah, what's that?" he asked, looking over to her, interested.

She shrugged. "She just told me, that _you_ had a '_thing' _for _me_," Brooke stated, a nervous laugh followed after it.

"A 'thing'?" Julian laughed. "What the hell does she mean by a 'thing'?" he laughed.

Brooke chuckled. "I have _no_ idea. See, heh, ridiculous!"

"Pffft, I'll say," he said. A silence followed. "I mean, what is a 'thing', anyways?"

"Exactly! I mean, a 'thing' could be like, anything really." Brooke responded.

"Chyeah, anything," Julian agreed.

Brooke nodded.

Julian looked to his hands, that were fiddling the bottom of his t-shit, feeling like a coward for not saying what he was really thinking. He cleared his dry throat. "But I mean, maybe her comment wasn't _super _ridiculous," he remarked.

Brooke's face turned somber. "Wh-what do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, a 'thing' can be subjective sure, but I think there may have been…_some_ sort of truth in her statement."

"How so?" she asked, pegging him on. Did he really feel something for her, just like Haley suggested? Brooke began to feel herself sobering up some.

"Well I mean…" Julian began, thinking of something to say. His mind was a jumble of thoughts and words. How could he put this without scaring her away? Without sounding too forward? Without making a fool out of himself? The impertinent look on Brooke's face somehow made him feel like opening up to her, like revealing himself to her, and quite frankly, that scared him. He felt out of his element, like his façade was cracking and she was close to unveiling the _real _Julian Baker, the one no one saw or even cared to see. Never had he felt such a feeling from a person before…

He looked back up at her. "Brooke…do you ever wonder if…." he paused, trying to gather his thoughts and decipher what exactly it was he was trying to say.

"Wonder what?" Brooke asked, inquiringly. Something about Julian's expression as he spoke to her made her curious. The mood had quickly shifted from lighthearted to serious. She turned to face him, her knee brushing up against his, bring sensations through her veins.

Brooke continued to stare at him as he seemed lost in his thoughts. He then shook his head and dejected his previous state of wonder. "Nah, forget it," he shrugged and chuckled, "Forget it, I don't know what I was talking about." He straightened up in his seat and began fiddling with the bottom of his shirt again, failing to look Brooke in the eyes.

Brooke sensed that he was holding back from whatever he was about to say, and for whatever reason, she wanted him to know that he could open up to her.

"Look," Brooke began, "I know I'm not the _easiest _person in the world to deal with but…I'm, a pretty good listener…you know, if you need to talk about anything….or whatever."

In just a simple sentence, Brooke had managed to light his bones on fire and steal a piece of his heart. Brooke Davis, with her tough shell and fierce personality, was showing warmth to him, Julian Baker, cliqued brain-less jock.

He faced her and looked into her eyes, which seemed vulnerable and momentarily softened, as if he was looking at her for the first time. As if she were seeing him for the first time…

Brooke couldn't explain the look on Julian's face, but her mind didn't give her a lot of time to ponder what he was feeling when she saw his head slowly inching forward towards her. Was he going to kiss her? She found herself torn, but inching towards him as well…

"Brooke?" Haley yelled out from the sliding porch door. "Where the hell have you been? I've been texting you for nearly _two_ hours!"

Julian bit his lip and internally cursed his sister for ruining the moment.

"Huh?" Brooke thought aloud. She then dug into her pocket to find her phone, and low and behold, there were nine missed texts from Haley. She must have had her phone on silent.

"But, but, I thought you were at Chris's concert right now?" she shot back at her.

"Chris's concert? What? Who told you that?" Haley asked as she got closer to Julian and Brooke's spot on the bench.

Brooke shot Julian a look. He failed to meet her eyes, he looked at the sky, at the ground, anywhere but at the two girls next to him. His ass was as good as busted.

"Julian?" Brooke asked in an angry tone. "Did you happen to know that Haley was _inside_ this whole time?" she asked, her teeth gritted.

Haley looked to him with her hands on her hips and waited for a response. "Julian…?"

"I…may have had a _slight_ idea that that was a possibility," he replied slowly and cautiously.

Brooke rolled her eyes and quickly got up from her spot next to him. Julian instantly looked up at her, missing her presence by him. "I cannot believe you tricked me into getting high with you! You, you, you…jerk!" Brooke scolded him, hitting his shoulder. Her brain was still fuzzy and disoriented but she was doing her best to form coherent sentences and thoughts. Haley, with an angry look attached to her face followed in Brooke's footsteps and also hit him in the shoulder. "Asshole," she remarked, linking arms with an angry Brooke. A weak 'Hey!' was all Julian could mumble out as he held the now sore spot on his shoulder. The girls shot him a dirty look and walked away and back into the house.

_If looks could kill…_


End file.
